Your story, your artwork, your say
Published on 15 May 2026
Residents across 10 Loddon Shire towns are being invited to help shape permanent works of art that will commemorate the floods of 2022, 2023 and 2024, remembering the collective community strength and connection that endured throughout the disaster.
Loddon Shire Council has commissioned a new project, the Commemorative Flood Installation, that will see a unique, place-based artwork created for each of the 10 flood-affected towns across the shire: Newbridge, Bridgewater, Serpentine, Calivil, Dingee, Mitiamo, Pyramid Hill, Boort, Wedderburn and Korong Vale.
Your voice shapes the design.
Community sessions began on Tuesday, 12 May, with workshops running through May and into June. Sessions will be held in familiar local venues and everyone is welcome to come along.
The workshops aren't surveys or tick-box exercises. They are story-led conversations, designed to draw out what the floods meant to each community: the impact, the grit, the neighbours who showed up, and the moments of connection that carried people through.
Two Central Victorian artists, Aimee Chapman and David Gagliardi of Sonic Gold, will attend the sessions as listeners, absorbing the felt sense of each community's story before translating it into a visual concept. Community stories will directly shape concept for the artwork.
"We want to hear from people about what it actually meant to live through those floods, and what their community's story of recovery really is," said Loddon Shire Mayor Dan Straub.
"The artwork that comes out of this project should feel like it belongs to each town. That can only happen if the people of those towns are part of designing it."
Where should the installation go? You decide.
As part of each session, community members will also be asked to nominate a preferred location for their installation within their own town, a park, a memorial space, the town centre. Somewhere that feels right for the story being told.
Alternative locations can also be put forward. All nominations will feed into Council's planning and approvals process.
Can't make a session? There's still a way in.
Not everyone will be able to attend in person. A written or phone-call submission pathway is available for those who want their voice included but can't attend a workshop.
Once concept designs are complete, they will be published on the Connect@Loddon website from 29 June, where the wider community can view and respond to the proposed artwork and location for their town.
Community Planning Groups in each town will be spreading the word about dates and venues in the coming weeks. Watch for invitations through your local network, neighbourhood house, or Council's social media channels.
To register interest in participating or to make a submission, contact Leah Sertori at Sertori Consulting on 0437 334 057 or email leah@sertoriconsulting.com.